


Fandot Creativity Night 5

by timeladyleo



Series: Fandot Creativity [3]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Fandot Creativity Night, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3647520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeladyleo/pseuds/timeladyleo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several little drabbles written for the fifth Fandot Creativity Night (with the bonus of the two I missed on the actual night)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The power of books

Douglas was surprised upon entering the portacabin to find Arthur sat reading. Curious, he pulled up a seat across from Arthur, who was so engrossed in his book he hadn’t noticed the pilot enter.

"What’s that you’re reading, Arthur?" Douglas asked, turning his head to try and get a glimpse of the cover. Arthur jumped, almost dropping his book in surprise.

"Oh! Hi Douglas! It’s a book about space! It’s really cool, it’s got all about planets and moons and the sun." Arthur grinned, making sure his bookmark was in place before placing the book down on the table with care.

"What’s got you into reading, then?" As far as Douglas knew, Arthur had only read two books in his whole life by choice: White Fang and the book on Africa that had got them all into trouble just the month before. Arthur shrugged.

"Well, I thought that because I don’t read very much, I should start by reading about things I like, which is great because I like loads of things so it'll take me ages to read about all of them. But I like space lots and lots, so that’s what I’m reading about now!" Douglas smiled at Arthur’s enthusiasm.

"Space, hm? What’s your favourite planet then?"

"Oh, Saturn and Pluto! Saturn’s really cool because it would float if you had a massive swimming pool to put it in, and Pluto’s really, really, _really_ small." Arthur babbled about space for a little while, Douglas nodding along. As much as he wanted to not really listen, he found he took interest in what Arthur was saying, and felt almost proud that he had taken the time to read and was now enthusiastically telling Douglas about planets. He smiled, wondering about the power of books, and how they had made him stop being sarcastic for a while.


	2. Pebbles

"You see, Arthur, it’s all in how you flick you wrist, like this." Herc tossed a pebble into the river. It bounced twice before sinking into the water with a splash. Arthur grinned.

"My turn, my turn!" Arthur picked up a pebble, and tried his best to imitate Herc’s action. It bounced once, which for Arthur was just as exciting as if it had bounced seven times. "Look, it bounced! Mum, look!" He turned to Carolyn, almost hopping with excitement.

The three had taken a picnic to the nearby river. Arthur had been throwing stones in and Herc had decided that teaching him to skim stones would be a good idea. They had been doing that for the last forty minutes, Carolyn looking on and chuckling as Snoopadoop circles around them all. She knew from experience that Arthur could not skim stones at all, though secretly was impressed with Herc’s perseverance in trying.

"Well done, dear." she said with a small smile at how happy Arthur was. Herc too was beaming, and Carolyn found herself thinking about how good he was for Arthur, as she couldn’t imagine Gordon ever bothering to do anything like that - or in fact anything at all - with him.

Of course, she also had to prove her superiority, which she did by skimming a stone and getting it to bounce five times on the first go. She smiled triumphantly as both Herc and Arthur’s mouths fell open in awe.


	3. Letters

_Martin Crieff is one of the finest pilots I have ever had the privilege of_

Douglas frowned. Swiss Air had asked for references for Martin’s interview, which had of course meant the ‘random selection’ had chosen them all. 

_Captain Martin Crieff may at first seem out of his depth, but he is one of the finest pilots I have ever flown with,_

He made a face before crossing through words several times. It should not be so hard to write a few sentences saying that Martin was a good pilot and deserved the job. 

_~~Though Captain Crieff is many years my junior, he is a~~ _

_At MJN Air, Martin is ~~one of the very best~~   ~~the best~~   ~~a superb~~_

“No.” Douglas grumbled. He could write whatever he wanted, it wasn’t like Martin was going to see it. Yet Douglas knew that he couldn’t write what he really wanted to. 

_Captain Crieff is the best captain at MJN Air, and other than myself, he is the most skilled_

“Ugh.” Douglas scribbled the words out and turned the paper over to try again.

_Captain Martin Crieff deserves ~~the world~~  to move on to a larger airline, and though  ~~I would miss him~~  we would be sorry for him to leave MJN, I believe he would make a fine Swiss Air pilot, as there is no pilot  ~~I love more~~   ~~I rate more highly~~  whose skills I rate more highly.  ~~I love him. I love him.~~_

Douglas sighed and scribbled out the bits he couldn’t possibly write. Knowing Martin, he would be told about the references and want to know what was said. Douglas couldn’t possibly tell Martin how he felt, let alone in a letter. Martin needed to go to Swiss Air, and the stupid man would stay if he knew. 

He copied out the best version onto a fresh piece of paper and folded it into an envelope. It would be fine, wouldn’t it? Of course it would because Martin would have his dream job, and even if MJN did fold, Douglas could get a new job elsewhere, even if it was without Martin. He could move on. He needed to. 


	4. 2:00 AM

Herc had always been a bit of an insomniac. All his life, he had felt bitterly jealous of people who could just close their eyes and go to sleep straight away. He was only glad that it rarely struck when he had to fly, as nobody would take an insomniac pilot seriously. It had been worse when he was young, which he suspected - added to the horrors of the petting zoo - had contributed to his fear of sheep. All his life he had heard _'just try counting sheep!'_ Not once had counting the woolen beasts ever worked. 

So it wasn't such a surprise after tossing and turning when he glanced at the clock and it read _2:00 AM_. With a sigh, he stared blankly at the ceiling. Carolyn was fast asleep next to him, and he didn't want to wake her by getting up. However, after another half hour of trying desperately to sleep, he gave in and snuck out of the room. 

He squinted at the light from the kitchen as he opened the door and nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw a figure sat at the dining table. "Arthur! What on earth are you doing up?" he said, attempting to keep his voice hushed. Arthur jumped with a muffled yelp, just as surprised as Herc that anyone else was up. 

"Herc! I- I couldn't sleep. Why are you up?" Arthur looked somewhat shaken. Herc sat down, looking at Arthur with concern. 

"Much the same reason as you." Arthur's smile was only small as he looked down at the cup of tea he was holding in both hands. He was fiddling with his fingers, restless. 

"Are you alright, Arthur?" Herc asked, worried that something had happened to make him so quiet. Then he realised why Arthur would be up at two in the morning and looking unsettled. "Did you have a bad dream?" 

Arthur met Herc's eyes and nodded. The urge to take care of Arthur came over Herc. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

A moment passed before Arthur said quietly "It was about dad." 

It took a while, but Arthur eventually opened up and told Herc all about how sometimes he got dreams about Gordon shouting and shouting and shouting. Herc listened without a word, knowing that Arthur was trusting him deeply, and feeling almost privileged that Arthur felt able to tell him about his bad dreams about his father. 

Without either of them realising, time passed. The oven clock flashed _04:03_ , and Herc blinked in surprise. Arthur was beginning to fall asleep at the table, so Herc gently ushered him back to bed, smiling as Arthur hugged him with a quiet thanks. Herc knew he wasn't going to sleep that night, but he was glad that he had helped someone else to.


	5. Rain

Snoopadoop growled at the door. Carolyn glared at the dog, then glared out of the window and the rain spattering it. She had been forward to having the house to herself, what with OJS out on a trip, but it had rained solidly, ruining her plan for a long solitary dog walk. Snoopadoop was disappointed too, having given up pawing at the door to lie down on her back, whimpering. Carolyn shook her head.

"I know, darling. We get the house to ourselves for five minutes, and the blasted British weather spoils everything. Typical." Carolyn took one more look out the window, half hoping the rain would have begun to subside. It hadn't. With a sigh, she opened the door to let Snoopadoop out into the garden to run around. She knew it would only be ten minutes at most before the dog would realise it was raining, try to eat the rain, and upon realising that was impossible, become miserable and want to be let back in. 

Though she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing, Herc was right: Snoopadoop was quite ridiculous. 

Giving up on any idea of a walk, Carolyn turned away from the window to turn the kettle on. There were no new messages on her phone, which was exactly the way she liked it. Then again, perhaps she should send Herc a quick text to make sure they had managed to fly the plane to where it was supposed to go. She decided that if they hadn't said anything by the time she'd had a cup of tea, then she'd text him. 

She smiled to herself, listening to the rain beating down outside. She loved being alone in the house alone with no annoying Arthurs or Hercs to ask annoying questions, or to play annoying operas all the time. Yet she also found that as much as they both wound her up, she did miss them a tiny little bit. 

Before she had finished her tea or received a message, the more pressing issue of a soaking wet dog barking at the door arose. Snoopadoop ran into the kitchen, wagging her tail and sending water everywhere. "Don't you _dare_." Carolyn warned, staring firmly at her dog. Snoopadoop stood frozen, not daring to shake off all the water from her fur, waiting for Carolyn to dry her with an old towel.


End file.
